Clinton Township to Merge Finance, HR Departments; Reclassify Leadership

In its latest effort to do more with less, Clinton Township has opted to consolidate its departments of Accounting & Finance and Human Resources into one Administrative Services division.

However, as there are several personnel changes associated with the merger, the township will refrain from fully implementing the plan until all potential union issues have been resolved.  

Since the proposed plan would both rewrite job descriptions for department heads and add the position of human resources manager, Treasurer William Sowerby and Trustee Paul Gieleghem voiced a concern that without union approval, the township could be exposing itself to breach of contract allegations.

“We’ve got to realize that because we are working with the unions that we are making decisions that will impact later on and may be reversed,” Sowerby said. “To act on (this issue) tonight, with lots of unanswered questions, is a mistake. We can get them cleaned up. There is no rush for this. We can act on this responsibly.”

Sowerby’s request to send the issue back to committee for further review was denied and the board, with the exception of absent Trustee Dean Reynolds, voted 4-2 to pursue consolidation.

Provided there are no union issues, the merger will eliminate the positions of finance director, human resources director and assistant finance director and replace them with a director of administration services, deputy director of administration services and assistant director for accounting and budget.

The new positions will be compensated with relatively the same salary and benefits as the previous roles, with the exception of the human resources manager, which is an entirely new position at a salary range of $60,000 to $66,000.